Projects Gasser on Maui..... but it's just another '55

I like that camera with the wide angle setting - I gotta get one.

I wish my olds ran that good.

Did you ever get a freeze plug installed in that water pump (instead of the rubber cap)?

 

Not yet, have two spare caps in the tool box in the trunk! Stuck a piece of heater hose on there for now, but couldn't get a good curve on it at the top, it kinked, so would bet it would crack and fail at the kink eventually. Am thinking just find another water pump, tap it and screw plugs into it. If I ever hook up the heater (winter time can get cold here, hard as that is to believe, and the defroster comes in really handy when it is raining....) I can do that if it is threaded. For now ok, have other more pressing problems to deal with (not this car though....) Am starting a new project with a '55 Chevy hardtop, slammed with updated suspension, brakes, running gear....

Couple years back I did a 55 Chevy pickup, made a 4x4, and used an Olds 455 motor in that one:

 

Car is vicious, less cruisin' and more full throttle video's please!

 

It's hard to find a road around here where I can open it up. Lots of traffic, about every other car is a tourist, and lots of cops around.

Will vid down the track next month, get some outside stuff too if I can get my buddies to help out with a second camera....
Willy

 

Only ran some Test and tune at the track in Feb. Running about 118 at 12.2. Slipping in each year. Not getting to the fifth gear my Doug Nash 5 sp has. Need more rear gear and better tires. Bought a set of Micky Thompson 33 inch tall by 10.5 wide, but think I need 4.11 gears. Have a set of 4.56 but they top out at 6000 at 128 in my excel spreadsheet. I would like a little more available at the top! 4.11 gears would give me 143 @ 6000 in 5th sez my Excel. Think I'll run my new 33" slicks w/ my 4.56 and see if I can coax the max out of her at the track in March. Not a good street gear though, when I slap the 28" street cheaters back on! I love the Nash 4+1 w/ the 3.0 rear and the 28" cheaters, it's an awsum combo on the street ( unless it rains!!??)....

Still havin' fun!
Aloha,
Willy

 

Good for you man, get us a dragstrip video!

 

I'm coming down to Maui on the 7th, but had to shorten my trip to return on the 22nd.......when is the next test or run scheduled? Bill

 

When you get here, let us know!

 

I'll do that. I'd love to have a look at the car in person. I'll probably miss the Peggy Sue's night as it used to be the first Saturday of the month. I did catch it when I was down in November though.

 

Are you going to have the Gasser at Peggy Sue's this Sat? Be nice to see in person.

 

I might be able to pull that off....
Weekends get pretty busy around here, so don't generally make it to an evening at PS's on first Saturdays, but might just make it this weekend....
I'll give it a shot, am not real big on just sitting around in parking lots....
I have a hard time sitting still for more than 5 minutes at a time....
Willy

 

Sat. March 16, maybe you can make it by the track? i'm at pit space #30....
http://www.mrp.org/

weighed it today, took out the tool box and the tow hitch (they were in there when I ran the 12.2 at 118)....
and with me in it and 10 gal of gas it was an even 4,000 lbs. rotound lil' beastie I'd say....
Gonna take some power to get me into the low tens...
Actually with the 3.0 gears and the 28" tires, running that 118 at the weight (had the tool box and tow bar) of 4120 calcs out that I was pushing about 570 at the rear wheels, with the 4.56 gears and 33" slicks the same calcs look like I might actually get into the tens if I don't screw up along the way....
We shall see....
Aloha,
Willy

 

Great build!

Let mee see 10 second elapsed time and a 5 speed... that's around 2 seconds/gear. Seems you are goin to be busy

Jukka

 

Ho Man, you got that right....
The first two shifts seem like they happen immediately...
But time gets stretched out on the track, 12 seconds seems to take an eternity, in 3rd and 4th ya watch that tach and it seems to be taking it's time getting to the next shift point...

And I've been playing around with shifting without the clutch, pretty scary for me to try that, but when I hit it right, it just clicks into the next gear way faster than using the clutch, but when I miss it, it's gear grind time and it's all over....
Only trying that on the street so far, haven't tried it at the track....
When it works, I just unload the throttle for the barest instance and hit the next gear and the throttle again as fast as I can, when it works it's really cool!

 

Hey 2loose, just read thru the entire post - neat car! Watched the videos as well, really liked the one of going up Baldwin and thru Makawao - could see Pollis on the left as you turned the corner. great place, good food.
We were at Peggy Sue's a month ago for the cruise night!

 

My wife's going to a play with "the gals" tonite, so I'm going to just head down to Peggy Sue's in the gasser, have a burger and a coke and hang awhile....

 

Lookin forward to seeing you. Lorne.

 

Got the Mickey Thompson 33" tall tires, they hit the fender lips front and back, so am raising the fender openings and widening them in front...

Tight squeeze there....


OK, Let's whack 'em....


Tape it up and let's take a look....


Not bad, let's weld 'em in place....


Looking pretty good, need to fab some pieces for the gaps, finish welding everything up, grind, smooth, a little body filler here and there, not much needed though....
Aloha,
Willy

LINK to fender lip mod page....

 

The front of those Mickeys looked pretty close to the door jamb, and those tires like to grow with rpm, so we decided to check that out! We jack stand'd the rear and ran it to 5,000 in 5th with the Mickeys, they smoked, so am clearancing that area also while under there, don't think it will take much, the witness marks were barely there, a buddy was watching, and they didn't touch until I got over 4,000 in 5th....

It will get tested again to make sure. Might just disconnect the coil overs and push it up into the wheel well a bit, like on a hard launch, just to make sure it is clear under all conditions....
But it took a lot of tire rpm to get it to grow that much, so doubt it could be a problem on launch, just at the top end...

The real problem to my mind is how it looks to me with street tires on, my present streets are only 26", the cheater slicks I've been running are 28", they look puny in there now with the new outline, am looking for some good looking taller tires to run on the street with lower gears, maybe 4.11 for the street and the 4.56 for the track....
Aloha,
Willy

These are the 28" tires, to me they look puny now with the larger opening....

 

Great fab work, also like that you have kept some patina!

 

The plan is to treat the rust spots with ospho, then flat clear coat it....

Ran some numbers on an Excel spreadsheet.
RPM vs MPH for various tire diameters and rear differential gears for my '55 gasser:



The first two data sets show my current street setup with 3.00 gears (tried 3.50, I like the feel of the 3.00 set on the street better....), running either my 26" tall street tires or my 28" tall DOT cheater slicks. The cheater slicks are what I ran at the track when I got the 12.20 at 118 mph, crossing the line in 4th at somewhere around 5000 rpm plus...

Ran the other four data sets with the 33" tall Mickey Thompsons, using my 3.50, 4.11, 4.33 and 4.56 gear sets. My current rear end is a 35 spline 9" setup w/ Detroit Locker I got from a guy in Honolulu, after they shut down the drag strip over there, a lot of race parts suddenly became "for sale" when that happened...

It takes me slightly over an hour to swap out a 9" third member pumpkin if I don't waste any time, and I have a 35 spline spool, so will set up a spare third member pumpkin I have with the 4.56 spool and run that at the track. Shifting at 6,000 and crossing the line in 5th at 6,000, if I can make the power, hit the shifts, not spin coming off the line, there is a potential for a high 10 second run at 129.

Ya just never know until ya try....
Aloha,
Willy

LINK: Added the spreadsheet to my web page...

 

Got my 4.56 spool third member all setup and in, now to finish the body work on those new fender well lips, and go test it on the road....

 

Hi Willy,

Sounds like you're on the right track alright. I'm at our place in Kihei now and hope to stop in and see you if you're still going to be at the track on Saturday. Bill

 

Looking forward to seeing how the real times compare to the spread sheet times!

 

Me Too !!

 

It's been slower than I thought getting those relocated wheel well openings finished! Grinding down the welds I somehow got a piece of rusty metal in my eye! Even while wearing safety glasses! Had to go to the Dr. and have it removed, they actually had to scrape out the rust particles! Now at home with a very sore eye! Doesn't look good to race tomorrow night, can only see out of one eye at the moment! Oh well, there's always the April races....
Willy

 

Hi Willy,

Here's a shot of your '55 in downtown Makawao (a small cowboy/tourist town in upcountry Maui for those that haven't been there). You don't see many of those around there! Hope your eye is healing up. Bill

 

Willy's 55 Chevy is a Maui version of the 55 from Two Lane Blacktop, just plain NASTY!

 

Hey big guy great car!

As an FYI I talked to a guy a few years ago via internet that had a '55 Gasser that I was thinking about trading for. We got right down to the nitty gritty & the guy kept asking me if I noticed anything different about his car. He finally relented & told me the car was originally a 4-door. The rear door had been welded shut & the rear window post cut out. He had colored plexi-glass in the rear & it obviously did not roll up & down but it looked enough like a 2-door that it had me fooled until he told me about it.

Anyway you may like the 4-door just as well. Just thought I'd toss it out FYI. Your car is too cool as it is!

 

Yeah, I have a set of doors off of a sedan, if I want to do that, but have developed a real fondness for the four door just as it is...

There is a thread here on the Hamb on converting a 4dr to a 2dr, it is very well done and I have it in my file as a pdf file. I can email it to anyone who wants it. I might check out if I can just put it on my "gasser" website for anyone who might want to download it, don't know if that is possible or not....

It's here at the Hamb:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=228873

Thanks for posting that pic Bill, I'm going to use it on my webpage....

The eye is healing up nicely, but taking it's time....
When that happened I stopped reworking the front of the rear tire space to add additional room for the race tire expansion, so am back at it on a limited basis, now that I have an additional month to get it ready for the track....

Looking at this tire to run on the street with the 4.56 gears....



It's a michelin LT285/75R16, 32.8" tall, section width 11.3", they recommend max 9" wide rims, but I have a pair of 16 by 10" wide rims available, so think I am going to try them. They will fill out that raised and widened fender well lip nicely and should look (and drive) quite well out on the street. Then at the track just swap in the slicks and make my runs....

Later....
Willy